Quality Alone Time
by Fr333bird
Summary: In a room-sharing situation, quality alone time can be hard to come by (puns intended). But Gwaine, Merlin and Arthur agree on a schedule that works beautifully-until it doesn't. Merlin/Arthur with a side of Gwaine. Smut and fluff - the usual.


**A/N: Written for the Wanking Comment Fest on LJ (again). Thank you to Donnersun and Beckybrit for pre-reading and catching my typos/repetitions/fuck ups.**

**Two new Merlin fics in three days - what? If you've missed my words, I don't always post everything here anymore. Most of my recent fics have been Teenwolf fandom and they're over on Archive Of Our Own if you fancy reading them (I use the same username there).**

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Unsurprisingly it was Gwaine who raised the topic on the first weekend after they'd moved into their shared room at uni. They were sitting around in the living space, drinking beer and bonding-as Gwaine insisted on calling it.

"So, what are we going to do about wanking then?"

Merlin nearly choked on his beer; his spluttering saved him from the need to form a coherent reply. Gwaine slapped him on the back until he coughed most of it back up out of his windpipe.

"What do you mean?" Arthur frowned, his cheeks pinking slightly.

"Well you know. Alone time. I've never shared a room with anyone before and I don't know what the protocol is. Do we just try and be quiet and pretend we don't notice if we hear someone else having a quick one off the wrist at night?" Gwaine gestured lewdly with the bottle of Bud in his lap and Merlin looked away quickly. "What did you do at boarding school, Arthur?"

Arthur's face was definitely flushed now. Merlin was secretly rather enjoying his discomfort; his first impression of Arthur was that he was an arrogant twat-albeit an irritatingly attractive one-who could do with being taken down a peg or two. Merlin settled back and waited with interest for Arthur to reply.

"I don't know. We just did it. Some boys probably did it in the dorms, but I think most took care of it in the showers. Nobody minded really as long as we were discreet. I don't see why we need to discuss it at all." He carefully avoided both of their gazes, picking at the label on his bottle.

"Well I hate wanking in the shower." Gwaine shrugged. "I like to do it in bed, lying down. I don't want to be worrying about the water getting cold or my legs giving out if I come too hard." Merlin's cock took an interest immediately at that mental image. He'd already told his roommates that he was gay. He didn't know whether he was blessed or cursed to be sharing with two of the hottest guys in his college. Maybe a little of both.

"Me too," Merlin agreed, finally plucking up the courage to join in with the discussion. "I prefer doing it in bed as well." He wasn't really comfortable talking about wanking, but he'd be damned if he was going to be reduced to jerking off in the shower every day instead of in his nice warm bed.

"And you can't take porn into the shower." Gwaine grinned at Merlin and Merlin's cheeks heated at his attention. "I like some visuals, don't you?" Merlin shrugged noncommittally.

"Well, I don't want to be kept awake by you two living it up with Rosy Palm and her five sisters all night long." Arthur's face was scarlet now, but his lower lip curled out in a determined fashion. "And you're not bloody well watching porn while I'm trying to study of an evening!"

"Okay, okay. Chill." Gwaine's tone was placating. "Communal living's all about compromise. So how about we have a schedule for a little solo time in the bedroom every evening? I can have five o'clock, Merlin can have five-fifteen, you can have five-thirty..."

"Only fifteen minutes?" Merlin interrupted, horrified, then blushed profusely when he realised what he'd said.

But luckily Arthur was on his side. "How about half an hour?" His voice was gruff. "Give us a bit more chance to... you know."

"Make the most of it?" Gwaine's teeth flashed as he smirked. "Yeah. Nice one. Okay; five, five-thirty and six it is then. Thirty minutes each. I can come twice in that time."

"That's too much information." Arthur threw a cushion at him.

"So it's a deal then." Gwaine sat back on the couch and raised his bottle. "To quality alone time."

Arthur and Merlin lifted their bottles and drank and the deal was made.

xOx

At first it was a bit embarrassing.

The others were almost invariably in the shared living space while Merlin had his solo slot in the bedroom. The first few days he found it hard to come, knowing that they knew what he was doing in there. But gradually Merlin got used to it and felt less uncomfortable. If he was honest, knowing that Gwaine had been in the room doing _that _ just before him, was actually kind of a turn on. And knowing that Arthur was lurking around waiting for Merlin to finish so that he could have the room next was even more of a thrill. Merlin's crush on Arthur was epic and uncontrollable. He felt a little guilty for getting off on thoughts of Arthur jerking off, but the scheduled wank arrangement hadn't been Merlin's idea. Gwaine was to blame for that, and Arthur had been the one to make a fuss about privacy. Merlin would have been happy to wank quietly once the others were asleep. The walls in his home were paper thin, so he was used to keeping the noise to a minimum so that his mum wouldn't hear him.

But Merlin couldn't deny that once established, the arrangement usually worked remarkably well. They all got to work off some of the tensions of the day, knowing that they wouldn't be interrupted. It was good for all of them.

But of course, all good arrangements have the occasional hitch.

It was a Friday afternoon and Merlin had been held up finishing an assignment for a deadline. By the time he made it home, he was already fifteen minutes late for his appointment with his right hand.

"Cutting it a bit fine today aren't you?" Gwaine called as Merlin rushed through the door, tearing off his coat and dumping his book bag on the floor.

Merlin needed to pee first too, losing a couple more precious minutes. Of course, he could just not bother to take his turn tonight. But on the odd occasion that he'd not made use of his alone time, Merlin always felt very envious of the others and spent most of the next twenty-four hours feeling frustrated and irritable. Of course, the others knowing the reason for his bad mood didn't help. Gwaine was a bugger for teasing both him and Arthur if they'd missed a day. And Merlin wasn't sure if it was his imagination-or just that he noticed it more on those days than usual-but Arthur seemed to spend more time walking around the bedroom in his underwear on the nights that Merlin hadn't had a chance to jerk off.

Arthur arrived home just as Merlin emerged from the bathroom. He'd been in there for a while, apparently he was conditioned to get an erection at the same time every evening now-like one of Pavlov's dogs, only hornier. Just the prospect of his evening wank was enough to get Merlin half hard and he'd needed to calm down before he could empty his bladder.

"Oh. Hi, Merlin." Arthur looked surprised to see him emerge from the bathroom. "Are you... erm... done in the bedroom already?" His cheeks reddened delightfully. "I'll sneak in early then, because I've got five aside footy later so I'm in a bit of a rush."

"No!" Merlin protested. "I'm not done." He definitely wasn't done. The knowledge that Arthur was in a hurry to get his hand around his prick made Merlin's perk up again. He adjusted himself awkwardly, ignoring Gwaine's knowing look. "I was running late. I'm on my way."

"Need any help with that Merlin?" Gwaine called after him, chuckling.

"Oh, sod off!" Merlin yelled as he slammed the door behind him. Gwaine probably wasn't even joking though; he made no secret of the fact that he liked boys as well as girls.

Merlin made it onto his bed with ten minutes to spare. He'd stripped out of his jeans, but had just shoved his underwear down around his thighs to save time and was still wearing his T-shirt. He didn't bother with any porn today, he didn't have time. His imagination would have to do.

He closed his eyes and held his cock firmly, gripping and sliding the silky skin up and down with firm strokes designed to get himself there fast. He didn't bother to try and fight the images that his brain provided. He knew from experience that resistance was useless, and he'd come to terms with the low level of guilt that he had about perving over his roommate.

Merlin moved his hand faster as he let his mind roam freely, flipping through the archives of visual images burned on his brain from two months of room sharing. The golden tone of Arthur's skin; the breadth and power of his shoulders; the coarse blond hair on his chest that was almost invisible unless the light caught it; the sturdy curves of his thighs and arse; the tantalising glimpse of cock and balls when Arthur stepped into his boxers after his morning shower...

He moaned quietly, wishing that he'd put on some music to drown out any sound he made. Gwaine was shameless, invariably audible in his enthusiasm even through a closed door, but Merlin liked to keep his noises secret-mainly because Arthur's name sometimes escaped his lips when he came.

Merlin thought of the vivid blue of Arthur's eyes, and about how he sometimes caught Arthur watching him surreptitiously. One time Merlin had been bending over to pull up his jeans, and when he'd straightened up and glanced across the room, Arthur's gaze had snapped from his arse to his face and then away. Arthur's face had flamed nearly as bright as the red briefs that Merlin had been wearing at the time.

He let the images of Arthur meld and shift and become dirtier, channelling his imagination rather than his memory as he imagined how Arthur's pretty cock would look when it was hard. He pictured Arthur naked, thighs parted, stroking himself, and Merlin bit his lips to stop himself from whimpering at the thought of it. Merlin let his own legs drop open and reached back with his free hand to press against his hole with the pad of a dry finger, teasing the puckered skin. God... what would it feel like to have Arthur fuck him? To have him tease Merlin open with fingers and tongue and press into him, slow and deep and determined. Merlin's balls drew up and his muscles tightened in anticipation. He was so close now.

A sharp rat-tat-tat on the door chased Merlin's impending orgasm away. "Bollocks," he cursed under his breath, gripping his aching cock tight as he pulled his duvet up with his other hand. "Fuck off!" He yelled. Whoever it was could bloody well wait. Wanking time was sacred; it was the golden roommate rule they all normally agreed on.

"Hurry _up _, Merlin." Arthur shouted through the door. He sounded bolshy and irritable, even more than usual.

" _Not helping _." Merlin lied, his hand still around his cock under the covers. Okay, the interruption had staved off his orgasm momentarily. But the sound of Arthur's bossy voice actually wasn't doing Merlin's erection any harm at all, which was maybe a little worrying. It twitched in his hand and he stroked up his length slowly, catching the wetness at the head and bringing it back down with the palm of his hand.

"Arthur's got a massive boner." Gwaine's cheerful voice carried through the door, he sounded as though he was enjoying himself far too much. "Poor lad. I'm worried he's going to explode in his pants if he has to wait for you too much longer."

"Well if you two would fuck off and get away from the door, that might help me finish." Merlin rolled his eyes, even though nobody was there to see it. He started stroking again, hampered by the bedclothes, but there was no lock on the door and he didn't quite trust them. He was a little breathless, and heat curled tight in his belly as he moved his hand steadily, his mind full of Arthur; scowling, maybe pouting a little, his cock hard and throbbing while Merlin kept him waiting. Merlin chuckled breathlessly, then yelled. "You can always come in and join me if you're that desperate."

There was a silence from outside the door and Merlin's pulse fluttered as he waited. He wasn't serious. He'd been expecting laughter, maybe a joke back. The lack of response was disconcerting. Merlin's hand stilled again, and then his heart lurched as the door handle jerked downwards and the door opened slowly.

"Well, go on then!" Gwaine shoved Arthur into the room, following him inside. "But if there's a group wank situation going on, I want in, because I only came once earlier and all this talk about masturbation has got me horny again."

"Jesus Christ," Arthur muttered. He met Merlin's shocked gaze momentarily. His blue eyes were dark and a little wild looking, but his jaw was set in grim determination. He turned away and headed over to his bed, already undoing the button and zip on his jeans.

"Brilliant." Gwaine stripped all his clothes off as he crossed the room. He was half hard already and his cock bobbed, stiffening further as he threw himself onto his bed. Gwaine sat on top of his covers with his back against the wall and went straight to stroking his cock with no preamble. He might as well have been brushing his hair or cutting his toenails-although that wasn't nearly so fascinating to watch. "Come on then, Merlin. Don't be shy. You don't want to get spunk all over your duvet cover now do ya?" Gwaine grinned at him, ever-practical.

Merlin's gaze flickered across to Arthur whose bed was directly opposite his own. He was perched uncertainly on the edge of it, his hand palming his erection through his boxers, gaze darting between Merlin's face and Gwaine's exposed cock. His flush extended down below the neck of his T-shirt; Merlin wondered how far it went.

"Fuck it." Merlin pushed his duvet aside and swung his legs around so he could sit and face Arthur. "Don't judge me if I come really fast, because I was nearly bloody there when _someone _disturbed me."

Merlin looked down at his cock in his hand as he started to stroke himself again. His underwear was still caught around his hips, the elastic hooked under his balls pushing them up obscenely. When he looked up, Arthur's attention was fixed on Merlin's groin and his mouth was slack. His own hand was moving slowly on his cock and Merlin looked down, curious to see Arthur's erection at last. It was ruddy and thick and looked good in Arthur's fist, the blood-flushed head emerging with every tug of Arthur's hand.

Jesus, just the sight of that was enough to have Merlin back on the brink. He huffed out a shaky, fractured breath and dragged his gaze back up to Arthur's face. Arthur was looking at him, his eyes fixed on Merlin's cock but then he lifted his gaze to Merlin's face and their eyes locked.

"Oh fuck," Merlin gasped. "Fuck!" And his cock surged, spilling messily all over his hand and the bottom of his T-shirt. Arthur watched as Merlin teased out the last sticky drops, panting and twitching with the relief of it.

"Oh, Jaysus... yeah!" Gwaine's voice made them both startle and look around in time to see him spurting too. "Watching you two making eyes at each other is better than porn, seriously. The sexual tension is extreme." He laughed breathlessly, already wiping his sticky belly with a tissue from his bedside table. "Bags I get first shower. Merlin-maybe you should give Arthur a hand, or a mouth or something." He got up and practically skipped across the room, like some dirty Cupid, treating them both to a view of his arse as he left them alone together.

Merlin stared at the door as it closed behind Gwaine.

"Merlin." Arthur sounded pained, his voice a broken husky sound in the sudden silence.

Slowly, Merlin inched his head around until he was facing Arthur again. Arthur looked wrecked, his hand still moving over his cock in jerky, desperate pulls.

"Merlin... _please ._"

And Merlin moved, stumbling across the gap between their beds, nearly tripping over Gwaine's discarded clothes. Arthur reached for him and he went, landing in a clumsy sprawl on Arthur's lap. Their mouths smashed together, teeth clicking and as Merlin wriggled closer, his still half-hard cock pressed against the iron bar of Arthur's and Arthur moaned into his mouth, hips jerking up to meet him. Arthur's hands were both on Merlin's arse now, fingers digging in hard, and Merlin reached down between them feeling blindly for Arthur and gripped him. Arthur was sticky and wet-from Merlin's smeared come as well as his own arousal-and his skin was hot under Merlin's questing fingers.

The kiss settled into something softer, deeper, as Merlin found a rhythm with his hand and moved it-sliding and squeezing as Arthur fucked up into his grip. He swallowed Arthur's sounds, licked into his mouth and hummed back, thinking the words that he couldn't form with his tongue tangled with Arthur's. _God, yes. Want you. Want this... _

Arthur tore his mouth away and pressed his face into Merlin's neck as he came, sobbing out broken, needy sounds against Merlin's skin. Merlin curled his free hand into Arthur's hair and held him tight, breathing in the warm, sweet scent of him.

It felt as though time stood still as they clutched each other, panting in the stillness. Arthur's warm breath was like a caress on Merlin's collarbone and his blond hair tickled Merlin's nose, but Merlin didn't want to move and spoil this perfect moment.

A surprisingly quiet tap on the door made them both jump and tense up. "Um... guys?" Gwaine sounded uncertain. "Sorry to disturb you and all... but I'm out of the shower now and all my clothes are in there. I'm getting a bit chilly. Are you done yet?"

Merlin lifted his head and Arthur pulled back to look at him. Arthur's face was flushed but his shy, pleased smile said everything that Merlin needed to hear. He reached down and tucked their sticky cocks back into their underwear, then pressed one last, soft kiss against Arthur's lips before climbing out of his lap on shaky legs.

"We're done for now," Merlin called, grinning at Arthur like an idiot as he backed towards his own bed. "But I think tomorrow we'll pool our alone time and have a full hour." He quirked an eyebrow at Arthur who nodded, smile widening.

"Excellent." Gwaine high fived Merlin as he passed. "Sounds fair to me. No point in having these arrangements if we can't be flexible. Speaking of which... I've got a blind date with a bloke called Percy tomorrow night. He looks as hot as fuck in the photos he's sent me, so is there any chance of having the room to myself for a bit then if all goes well?"

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**Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it. I'm a bit sucky at review replies so I'm sorry if I don't keep up with them. I get confused about which ones I've already responded to on FFnet because I can't see my responses on this site. But please know that I read and appreciate every review even if I don't manage to reply to you!**


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